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“For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name”
When we read the Bible, we have to remember that when God speaks to us directly, he means what he says.
In Isaiah 53 we see the great price the Messiah pays as our guilt offering, to bear our sins and make intercession for our transgressions (Isa 53:10,12). As the result of the atoning work of the Messiah, God reframes his relationship with his people.
As a result of the complete work of Christ, God now views his relationship with his people as a marriage.
Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth. Isaiah 54:4-5
He is careful about his language in these passages as he describes the context of his new covenant, secured in the sacrifice of his son. He tells his people (ultimately those who have faith in Christ - Galatians 3:14,29) that he will rescue them from their widowhood and become their husband. He’s careful to identify himself as the commander of angel armies, the father of Abraham, and the creator of the earth. But he’s also deliberate in communicating his intentions toward the object of his affection.
You are that bride. Because of Christ, God decided to join himself to you as profoundly as a wife is joined to a husband. The Apostle Paul tells us that the spiritual union of marriage is a mystery, reflecting our union with God. God himself is careful to call you his bride.
As I ponder this passage, I think about all the marriages I have encountered as a minister. I have the honor of sharing life and doing ministry with incredibly loving and healthy couples, but I’ve also experienced the heartbreak of sitting with couples as they recount the pain they’ve caused each other, even to the point of divorce.
I think about the people who have chosen their spouse poorly. I think about the women who continue to attract abusers to them repeatedly. I think about the men who continue to attract unfaithful women and have their hearts wrecked over and over.
And then I think about God and the spouse he chose. Specifically you.
I think God is the most emotionally healthy being that exists. I think he would choose a good spouse, a spouse that compliments him, a spouse that is committed to providing for and loving deeply throughout eternity.
God has not chosen a toxic spouse as his eternal bride. He assures this by providing a deep cleansing and renewal for us in Christ. Before he joins himself to us, he is meticulous in washing us pure with the lifeblood of Christ. He intricately sanctifies us to the state of holiness with Christ’s blood and his very own life essence, his spirit. In this process, he removes our broken and rebellious heart and gives us a new heart after his own heart, as David prayed. He then unites his spirit with ours to the point that you can’t distinguish between our spirit and his. He makes us partakers of his divine nature.
It’s hard to imagine with our limited minds. We can only understand it with our hearts, explained by the spiritual language of love.
Why does he do this? Because we are of great value to him. We are worth something, we are worth everything to him. We are the joy that inspired Jesus to endure death. We are the world he loved that he gave his only son for. We are the treasure in the field he sold everything to have. If you don’t see yourself through his perspective of you, it’s time to repent and humble your self-opinion to match God’s value for you.
You can live a life of significant meaning from this awareness of your value. Because you mean so much to God, you can rest in his value for you and live for something greater than your own needs.
In this series, I am discussing the phrase from 1 Corinthians 6, your life is not your own for you were bought with a price. I am encouraging people in this series to choose to live for something greater than their own needs, namely the kingdom of God.
When you know your value to God and how intimately you are joined to him, it’s easy to let go of self-centeredness and live a life that is part of a bigger story. Your life is part of His story. Living for him leaves the realm of obligation and becomes driven by meaning and purpose when you realize that His story is more important than your story.
Your life was worth dying for to God, and your life is worth living for others. I recommend spending some time meditating on the kind of union you have with God. Allow it to heal your heart and inspire you to love others. Love is our greatest strategy to reach the world.
Never forget, you are valuable, and you are loved. When you look at others, allow yourself to be aware of how valuable that person is to God. In your mind, tell them you love them and align your inner man to be a conduit of God’s spirit in their life.
You are the spouse of God, whom he will care and provide for. Go forward without fear and lavish his love upon others.
Watch this full series: Your Life Is Not Your Own
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